1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an extender card used when testing a circuit pack, and more particularly to an adjustable extender card capable of holding the circuit pack in a desired orientation during testing.
2. Description of Related Art
Extender cards are conventional devices that permit testing of circuit boards or packs under operative conditions, known in the art as "hot-testing."
Conventional extender cards are rigid and emulate the connections at the back plane of an electrical cabinet in which multiple circuit packs are mounted for operation. The extender cards in effect relocate electrical cabinet back plane connectors to a location closer to the front of the cabinet. As a result, the circuit pack is accessible to a technician while it is connected in the cabinet in the same manner as it would be during operation.
To that end, a conventional extender card includes unitary basic board and card guide portions. The basic board portion has at one edge connectors that serve to replicate the connections at the back of the circuit pack. Connectors that serve to emulate the connections at the back plane of the electrical cabinet are spaced from the replication connectors. The emulation connectors are electrically connected on a one-to-one basis to the replication connectors. The card guide portion guides the connectors at the rear of the circuit pack into contact with the emulation connectors. Accordingly, the connectors on the circuit pack mate with the emulation connectors just as if the emulation connectors were the back plane connectors in the electrical cabinet.
In use, a circuit pack to be tested is withdrawn along circuit pack mounting guides in the electrical cabinet. The basic board portion of the extender card, which has guide rails like the circuit pack, is slid into the electrical cabinet until the replication connectors on the back edge of the basic board portion mate with the electrical cabinet back plane connectors. With the extender card in this position, the card guide portion of the extender card protrudes from the cabinet. The card guide portion has guides that simulate the guides in the electrical cabinet. A technician slides the circuit pack along those guides until the circuit pack connectors mate with the emulation connectors. In this manner the circuit pack is accessible for testing under conditions identical to those it experiences when in place in the electrical cabinet.
However, although the conventional extender card is an extremely useful tool, it is limited because multiple circuit packs cannot be tested at the same time unless they are sufficiently spaced apart in the electrical cabinet.